Refrigerator door latch



April 14, 1970 w. J. HAGENDOORN ETAL 3,506,292

REFRIGERATOR DOOR LATCH Filed June 17, 1968 2 Tur-:m ,ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,506,292 REFRIGERATOR DOOR LATCH Willem J. Hagendoorn, Louisville, and Howard D. F.

True, Jr., Fern Creek, Ky., assignors to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed June 17, 1968, Ser. No. 737,410 Int. Cl. EOSc 19/02 U.S. Cl. 292-78 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An over-center latch mechanism for a refrigerator door includes a support and latch bolt pivotally mounted on the support in slots on the support which permit a longitudinal movement of the bolt relative to the support such that during closing of the door, the bolt can engage a cooperating keeper even though the latch has been tripped to its latching position while the door was open.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A number of latch assemblies for refrigerator doors and the like are of the over-center type designed to operate without the assistance of a movable latch handle or equivalent operating mechanism. These latch mechanisms are normally mounted within the space between the inner and outer panels of the refrigerator door for cooperation with a keeper or strike mounted on the face of the cabinet. With modern refrigerator cabinet construction featuring improved insulation and thus less space between the door panels, it is necessary that such latch mechanisms be rather compact. Also, because they do not include any exteriorly accessible bolt operating means, it is desirable that they be so constructed that a door can be closed and latched even though the bolt is accidentally tripped from the cocked or latching position while the door is open.

The basic components of an over-center latch assembly are a support, a latch bolt including a latching arm and a trip arm spaced from one another to define a recess for receiving a strike, the latch bolt being pivotally mounted on the support for pivotal movement between a latching position and a cocked position, and an over-center spring mechanism for yieldably holding the bolt in either of these two positions. The lower cost, compact latches containing only these essential elements have required a manual resetting of the latch bolt if the bolt is accidentally tripped to its latching position While the door is open.

Latches including an override means such that if the latch bolt is rotated accidentally to its latching position while the door is open, the door may nevertheless be closed with the latch bolt properly reengaging the strike, have included additional components with a resultant increase in both material and assembly costs. For example, the over-center latch mechanism disclosed in Patent 2,833,578 Burke includes as the additional element, a toggle pivotally mounted on the latch support component and pivotally connected to the latch bolt. The toggle provides both pivotal and longitudinal movement of the bolt relative to the support for latching engagement with a cooperating keeper regardless of whether the bolt is in its latched position or in its unlatched or cocked position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION center latch, a support, a pivoting latch bolt mounted on n the support and an over-center means for biasing the bolt in either its latched or cocked position; the mechanism 3,506,292 Patented Apr. 14, 1970 ICC being so designed that, Without additional operating components, the latch bolt is capable of movement relative to the support to permit latching engagement with a cooperating keeper even though the latch is in the latched rather than its cocked position.

To this end, the latch mechanism comprises a longitudinally extending support including spaced side walls and a latch bolt pivotally mounted between the walls for pivotal movement between a latching position and a cocked position. The bolt is pivotally mounted on the walls on a pivot pin extending through the bolt and through the walls while an over-center mechanism yieldably holds the bolt in either the latching or its cocked position. In order that the latch bolt may move sufficiently to engage a cooperating keeper even though the latch bolt is in its latched position, the pivot pin for the latch bolt is slidably received in parallel slots in the side walls of the support and the axes of these slots extend at an angle relative to the base of the support such as to permit a limited longitudinal and lateral movement of the bolt when it engages a keeper with the bolt in its latching position so that the bolt can move a distance suicient to permit latching Contact with the keeper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the accompanying drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a horizontal sectional view of a portion of a refrigerator cabinet illustrating the latch mechanism of the present invention in its normal latching position;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to l with the latch bolt in its cocked or unlatched position;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 illustrating the latch bolt tripped to its latching position when the door is opened; FIGURE 4 is a view illustrating the nal movement of the latch bolt during closing of the door when the latch has been tripped to its latching position shown in FIGURE 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The novel latch mechanism of the present invention is illustrated as being mounted within the lower edge portion of a refrigerator door 1 for closing the access opening to a storage compartment of a cabinet 3. The door is pivotally supported on the face of the cabinet by hinge means including a lower hinge 4 for the usual opening and closing movement about one side edge thereof.

The cabinet is provided with a strike or keeper assembly 6 mounted on the lower face 7 of the cabinet and including a roller or pin 8 positioned forwardly from the face of the cabinet.

The latch assembly includes a longitudinally extending support 9 of generally U-shaped cross section so that it includes opposed spaced side walls 10 and 11 and a base 12. This support is suitably secured to the door 1 as for example by means of bolts or screws 14 securing the one side wall 10 to the door ange 15. A generally V-shaped latch bolt indicated by the numeral 17 is pivotally mounted between the walls 10 and 11 on a pivot pin 18 extending through the bolt and the walls 10 and 11. The bolt includes a latching arm 19 and a trip arm 20 spaced from one another to form a relatively deep recess 21 for receiving and retaining the strike 8 when the door is in its closed and latched position.

The latch bolt 17 is mounted adjacent the right or forward end of the support 9 and in accordance with the present invention, the ends of the pin 18 are slidably received in cooperating slots 22 in the opposed side walls. The axes of these slots 22 extend upwardly and forwardly relative to the base and an over-center mechanism 23 normally maintains the pivot pin 18 in the forward ends 24 of the slots during the normal latching and unlatching operation of the mechanism.

The over-center mechanism yie-ldably holding the bolt in either its latching or cocked positions is of the usual type and includes a compression spring 26 positioned on a spring retainer 27. One end of the retainer 27 slides in a slot 28 in a lbracket 29 forming part of the support while the other end is notched or bifurcated as illustrated by the numeral 30 and is biased by the spring into engagement with a knife edge 33 forming part of the bolt 17.

The combination of the pivoted latch bolt 17 and the over-center mechanism 23 provides a latch mechanism in which the latching bolt will move over-center to either the latching position illustrated in FIGURE l in which the contact or stop point 35 on the lower surface of the latch bolt engages the base 12 or the unlatched position as shown in FIGURE 2 in which the contact point 36 engages the base. It will `be noted that the contact point 35 is forward of the pivot axis as represented by the pin 18 while the contact point 36 is rearward of the pin 18 so that they respectively limit pivotal movement of the -latch bolt in the two directions. It will also be noted that, in the latching position, the pivot point between the spring mechanism 23 and the latch bolt as represented by the knife edge 33 and cooperating portions of the structure is to one side of an imaginary line drawn between the pivoting end 28 of the spring mechanism and the pin 18 while in the cocked or unlatched position this point is on the opposite side of the imaginary center line.

During normal operation of the latch mechanism the spring forces from the over-center mechanism 23 exert a force on the latch bolt which continuously maintains the pin 18 in contact with the upper or forward end of the slot 22 and the latch operates as though the pin were pivoted in a restricting annular opening. Also, as the door is opened by means of a suitable handle (not shown), the keeper roller 8 engages the latching arm surface of the recess 21 to pivot the latch Ibolt in a counter-clockwise direction to the position illustrated in FIGURE 2 in which the.. keeper is free to move out of the recess 21. As the door is closed, the keeper initially contacts the recess surfacek of the trip arm 20 thereby pivoting the bolt 17 in a clockwise direction.

In the event that the latch bolt is accidentially tripped to its latching position while the door is open, the opposed slots 22 provide suicient longitudinal and lateral movement of the latch bolt 17 to effect latching of the bolt with the keeper. The relative position of the bolt 17 and the keeper 8 upon initial contact of these components during closing of the door 17 with the bolt in its latching position is illustrated in FIGURE 3 of the drawing. The rst contact of the keeper 8 with the downwardly and forwardly slanting surface 37 of the latching arm presses the bolt toward the base 12 and also rotates the bolt 17 counterclockwise about its contact point 35. These movements are permitted by the slots 22 and are, of course, opposed yby the spring 26.

During initial rotation of the latch bolt 17 in a counterclockwise direction, an intermediate pivot point 38 engages the base 12 and further movement of the bolt 17 takes place about this pivot point 38. The pivot point 38 is positioned at a point between the axis of the pin 18 and the pivot point 35 and its primary purpose is to prevent the bolt 17 from locking against further rotation whichy would be the case if both pivot points 35 and 36 concurrently contacted the base before the over-center mechanism has reached its over-center point,

Continued rotation of the bolt under the forces of the strike-8 on the surface 37 causes the bolt to move to approximately the position shown in FIGURE 4 of the drawing in which both of the pivot points 38 and 36 or more specifically the ilat area between these two points contacts the base 12 and pin 18 has moved farther down slots 22. However, at this time, the over-center mechanism has approached or reached dead center and the roller 8 which has traveled forwardly along the surface 37 is riding on a portion 39 of this surface which has a substantial slope and provides a final rearward thrust on the latch arm 19 to rotate the bolt to a position in which the roller 8 drops over the forward edge of the arm 17 and into the recess 21 for engagement with the trip arm 20. The forces on the latch bolt 17 are then reversed and the latch bolt returns to its normal latched position drawing the door into a closed position.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, the latch is mounted on the door intermediate the hinge and free edges thereof or more specifically relatively close to the hinged edge thereof as illustrated in the drawing. As a result, if the door is in either the position illustrated in FIGURE 2 of the drawing in which the strike or keeper 8 has contacted the trip arm 20, but has not tripped the latch or in the position shown in FIGURE 3 in which the latch has been accidentally tripped to its latching position while the door is open, the door will be noticeably ajar. Preferably the latch is so positioned on the door that the usual door operated light switch (not shown) which controls the energization of a light within the storage compartment 2 will be closed with the result that the illumination from the interior of the cabinet will make more noticeable the space between the partially open door and the cabinet face.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by the Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A latch for latching a refrigerator door in a closed position comprising:

a longitudinally extending support including a base and spaced side walls;

a latch bolt pivoted on said walls for pivotal movement between a latching position and a cocked position, said bolt having a strike-engaging latching arm and a trip arm spaced from said latching arm to define a recess for receiving the strike when the door is closed;

means for pivotally mounting said bolt between said walls adjacent the forward end of said support including opposed parallel slots in said Walls and a pivot pin extending through said bolt with the ends thereof slidably received in said slots, the axis of said slots eX- tending upwardly and forwardly relative to said base;

over-center mechanism for yieldably holding said bolt in said latching and cocked positions with said pivot pin normally engaging the forward ends of said slots;

said bolt including a rst contact point forward of said pin engaging said base when said bolt is in its latching position and a second contact point rearwardly of said pin engaging said base when said latch is in its retracted position and an intermediate contact point between said rst and second contact points, and forward of said pivot pin;

said latching arm including a sloping outer surface adapted to contact with the strike when the door is being closed with said bolt in its latching position, said slots permitting rotation of said bolt about said irst contact point to move said pivot pin away from the forward end of said slot followed by rotation of said bolt about said intermediate pivot point to a position in which said keeper enters said recess to engage said trip arm and return said bolt to its latching position.

2. A latch for latching a refrigerator door in a closed position comprising:

a longitudinally extending support including a base and spaced side walls;

a latch bolt pivoted on said walls for pivotal movement between a latching position and a cocked position, said bolt having a strike-engaging latching arm and a trip arm spaced from said latching arm to dene a recess for receiving the strike when the door is closed;

means for pivotally mounting said bolt between said walls adjacent the forward end of said support in- 5 6 cluding opposed parallel slots in said walls and a keeper can enter of said recess to engage said trip arm pivot pin extending through said bolt with the ends and return said bolt to its latching position. thereof slidably received in said slots the axis 0f 3. In combination, a refrigerator cabinet including the said slots extending upwardly and forwardly relative latch of claim 2 and means for mounting said latch on to said base; the door of said cabinet intermediate the opposed free over-center mechanism foryieldably holding said bolt and hinged edges thereof.

in said latching and cocked positions with said pivot pin normally engaging the forward ends of said slots; References Cited said bolt including a rst contact point forward of said UNITED STATES PATENTS pin engaging said base when said bolt is in its latch- 10 652 828 7/1900 Baile 292 78 ing lposition and a second contact point rearwardly 3 201160 8/1965 Lewi 292 71 of said pin engaging said base when said latch is in its retracted position and an intermediate contact point FOREIGN PATENTS between said first and second contact points, and for- 212,280 7 /1909 Germany ward of Said pivot pin; 15 1,127,748 4/1962 Germany. said latching arm including a sloping surface adapted 1,146,781 4 /1963 Germans/ upon contact with the strike when the door is being 1,158,403 11/1963 Germany closed with said bolt in its latching position to rotate said bolt about said rst contact point, move said piv- MARVIN A CHAMPION, Primary EXamiIlel ot pin away from the forward end of said slot and 20 R LWOLFE, Assistant Examiner bring said intermediate pivot point into contact with said base followed by rotation of said bolt about said U.S. Cl. X.R. intermediate pivot point to a position in which said 292-216 

